Over 23 million children to be vaccinated in mass polio immunization campaign across Middle East

9 December 2013 | CAIRO, AMMAN - The largest-ever immunization response in the Middle East is under way this week, aiming to vaccinate more than 23 million children against polio in Syria and neighbouring countries over the coming weeks.

The campaign is a crucial part of the response to an outbreak of the virus-borne disease in Syria, where 17 cases have so far been confirmed, and to the detection of the virus in environmental samples in other parts of the Middle East.

In order to stop the outbreak and prevent further spread, organizers aim to vaccinate, repeatedly over the next few months, all children under the age of 5, whether they are living at home or displaced by conflict. Depending on the area, vaccination will be offered at fixed sites at populous locations or by going from house to house. The activities are carried out by national and local health authorities supported by UNICEF, WHO, the Syrian Arab Red Crescent and other partners.

Inside Syria, the campaign aims to reach 2.2 million children, including those who live in contested areas and those who were missed in an earlier campaign. Many children in Syria remain inaccessible, particularly those trapped in sealed off areas or living in areas where conflict is ongoing.

Despite the gaps in coverage, initial information suggests that vaccine is getting to more areas of Syria than has so far been the case for health interventions delivered as part of the larger ongoing humanitarian effort. In parallel with the vaccination effort, work is going on to bolster systems for verifying coverage data in upcoming campaigns inside the war-torn country.

“All Syrian children should be protected from disease,” noted Dr. Ala Alwan, Regional Director, WHO Eastern Mediterranean Region. “To eradicate polio, we need to eradicate any reason for failing to reach children. We appeal to all parties of the conflict in Syria to cooperate and facilitate pauses in hostilities over the coming 6 months to allow vaccination campaigns to reach all children.”

“As if children in Syria had not suffered enough, they now have to contend with yet another threat to their health and well-being,” said Maria Calivis, UNICEF Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa. “The current polio vaccination efforts are a huge undertaking by many partners, but we can only halt the spread of the virus if we reach those children who have remained out of reach."

Over the coming months, UNICEF is planning to deliver 10 million doses of polio vaccine to Syria. The first shipment of 2 million vaccines arrived in Damascus on Friday 29 November.

The total cost to UNICEF and WHO of supporting the seven-country polio response from November through April is US$ 39 million, based on a strategic plan developed for the Middle East.

Note to editors

As of 26 November, 17 children have been paralyzed by polio in Syria: 15 of these children are in the contested governorate of Deir Ez Zour, 1 is in Aleppo and another in Douma, near Damascus. Prior to this outbreak, no polio cases have been recorded in Syria since 1999. The risk of spread to countries in the region and beyond is considered high, and health authorities from 21 countries have declared a public health emergency. Further polio immunization campaigns will be repeated across the region. In Syria, they will be carried out at monthly intervals until April 2014.

Genetically-related polioviruses, which originated in Pakistan, have also been detected in sewage samples in Egypt in December 2012, and in Israel and the West Bank and Gaza Strip earlier in 2013.

Inside Syria and for the past 2 years, immunization activities have been significantly constrained by ongoing conflict. Cold chain equipment in many districts has been lost and many mobile health teams have not been able to perform regular visits. This has led to missing out on vaccinating between 500?000–700?000 children in these areas.

For more information, please contact:

Rana Sidani
WHO Regional Office in Cairo
Telephone: +20 109 975 6506
E-mail: sidanir@who.int

Sona Bari
WHO Geneva
Telephone: +41 79 475 5511
E-mail: baris@who.int

Simon Ingram
UNICEF Regional Office for the Middle East and North Africa in Amman
Telephone: +962 79 590 4740
E-mail: singram@unicef.org

Najwa Mekki
UNICEF Regional Office for the Middle East and North Africa in Amman
Telephone: +962 79 573 2745
E-mail: nmekki@unicef.org

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Children in typhoon-hit Tacloban, Philippines, receive vaccines against measles, polio

26 November 2013 | Tacloban, Philippines - Children in Tacloban - the city hit hardest by Typhoon Haiyan - were today vaccinated against measles and polio in the first phase of a mass campaign by the Government of the Philippines with support from WHO, the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) and other partners. They also received Vitamin A supplements to help improve their immunity against infections.

30 000 children targeted in first phase

Over 30?000 children are expected to be reached by the campaign which is taking place at fixed sites in evacuation centres and in communities using mobile health teams.

"It is virtually unprecedented that within two-and-a-half weeks of a disaster of this scale, with this level of devastation and these logistical challenges, that a mass vaccination campaign is already rolling out."

Dr Julie Hall, WHO Representative in the Philippines

The vaccination drive in Tacloban is the first phase of a campaign targeting children aged less than 5 years in all the typhoon-affected areas. Fifteen teams (10 foreign and 5 national) including volunteers from the Department of Health, the Philippines Red Cross and other non-governmental organisations, were in locations across Tacloban giving vaccines today. The first to receive them were children in 20 evacuation centres, such as San Jose Elementary School, where more than 300 families currently live in conditions that can heighten the risk of infectious diseases.

"The children of Tacloban need all the protection they can get right now," says Angela Kearney, UNICEF Coordinator for the Emergency Response in Tacloban. "Disease is a silent predator, but we know how to prevent it and we will do everything that we can."

WHO and UNICEF coordinate vaccine supply and establish cold chain

At the Government’s request, UNICEF purchased over US$ 2 million worth of vaccines to replenish in-country stocks now being used for the campaign. In addition, UNICEF and WHO are helping to re-establish the broken cold chain, which is critical in keeping vaccines at the right temperature.

"WHO and UNICEF staff hand-carried supplies from Manila to Tacloban, coordinated teams to give the vaccines and trained them on how to do it under these difficult circumstances. It is virtually unprecedented that within two-and-a-half weeks of a disaster of this scale, with this level of devastation and these logistical challenges, that a mass vaccination campaign is already rolling out," says Dr Julie Hall, WHO Representative in the Philippines.

During the campaign children being immunized are also screened for malnutrition by measuring their mid-upper arm circumference which will indicate if they are undernourished and require referral for treatment.

For further information, please contact:

Nyka Alexander
Communications Officer
WHO, Manila
Telephone: +63 906 493 5097
E-mail: alexandern@wpro.who.int

Gregory Hartl
Coordinator, News and Social Media
WHO, Geneva
Telephone: +41 79 203 6715
E-mail: hartlg@who.int

Zafrin Chowdhury
UNICEF, Tacloban
Telephone: + 63 917 867 8366
E-mail: zchowdhury@unicef.org

Kate Donovan
UNICEF, Tacloban
Telephone: + 1 212 303 7984,
Mobile: + 1 917 3781 2128
E-mail: kdonovan@unicef.org

Denise Shepherd-Johnson
UNICEF, Manila
Telephone: + 63 917 464 7028
E-mail: dshepherdjohnson@unicef.org

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WHO update on polio outbreak in Middle East

A comprehensive outbreak response continues to roll out across the Middle East following confirmation of the polio outbreak in Syria.

Seven countries and territories are holding mass polio vaccination campaigns with further extensive campaigns planned for December targeting 22 million children. In a joint resolution all countries of the WHO Eastern Mediterranean Region have declared polio eradication to be an emergency and called on Pakistan to urgently access and vaccinate all of its children to stem the international spread of its viruses. The countries also called for support in negotiating and establishing access to those children who are currently unreached with polio vaccination.

WHO and UNICEF are committed to working with all organizations and agencies providing humanitarian assistance to Syrians affected by the conflict. This includes vaccinating all Syrian children no matter where they are, whether in government or contested areas, or indeed outside Syria.

The first priorities are to resupply and reactivate the required health infrastructure, including redeploying health workers to deliver vaccine in worst-affected areas, and moving vaccine across conflict lines where necessary and possible. The government has committed to reach all children; information on which areas are not reached will guide corrective actions and planning for the next rounds. All parties are working to find solutions for conflict-affected areas.

Dr. Jaouad Mahjour, Director of Communicable Diseases Prevention and Control at WHO’s Eastern Mediterranean Regional Office, stressed the necessity of reaching all children inside Syria and in neighbouring countries. "WHO and UNICEF are coordinating the vaccination campaign with all concerned parties to make sure that all children are vaccinated no matter where they are located."

Larger-scale outbreak response across the Syrian Arab Republic and neighboring countries will continue, to last for at least 6 to 8 months depending on the area and based on evolving epidemiology.

For further information, please contact:

Sona Bari
WHO
Telephone: +41 22 791 1476
Mobile: +41 79 475 5511
E-mail: baris@who.int

Related links

• Polio Eradication Initiative
• More on polio

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UN: 21 nations take up polio 'emergency'

GENEVA (AP) — The World Health Organization says 21 nations in the Middle East and nearby regions are jointly declaring the eradication of polio as an emergency priority, and are singling out Pakistan as a key part of the problem.

The U.N.'s health agency's statement Wednesday said the joint resolution by nations in WHO's Eastern Mediterranean region have called on Pakistan to urgently vaccinate all of its children to prevent the virus from spreading internationally.

Pakistan also approved the resolution, which the WHO says includes Afghanistan, Bahrain, Djibouti, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia, the United Arab Emirates, and Yemen.

WHO officials said earlier this week that the polio virus has now been confirmed in 13 of 22 children who became paralyzed in a northern Syrian province.

The health agency says the Syria outbreak comes from a strain that originated in Pakistan, where, along with Afghanistan and Nigeria, it is endemic — and has been spreading across the Middle East.

It says the virus has been detected in Egypt, and closely related strains of Pakistani origin turned up in sewage samples in Israel, the West Bank and Gaza Strip, but higher immunization rates in those places have helped keep the virus in check.

Copyright c 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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